If you travel 20 miles southeast of Seattle in the next 11 days, you won’t find yourself in Issaquah but rather “12saquah.”
City of Issaquah Mayor Mark Mullet announced the official renaming of the city on Tuesday that will last through the Super Bowl to honor the Seattle Seahawks’ return to the title game.
It was one of the first orders of business for Mullet, who took office on Jan. 1.
“I was optimistic that we were going to get back to the Super Bowl,” Mullet told The Seattle Times on Wednesday. “We started planning for it right at the start of my term in January. We thought, ‘Hey, let’s get ready. This is going to happen.’”
The City of Issaquah posted the proclamation to their government Facebook page. They plan to have a celebration of the proclamation on the steps of City Hall on the afternoon of Feb. 5.
“There’s nothing that makes me happier than signing this proclamation saying that Issaquah is now ‘12saquah’,” Mullet said in the Facebook video, while donning cornerback Devon Witherspoon’s No. 21 Seahawks jersey. “As a 20-year Seattle Seahawks season-ticket holder, this is a special moment for me.”
The Seahawks, who have a long history of calling their fans ‘the 12s’, return to the Super Bowl on Feb. 8 for the first time in 11 years and fourth time in franchise history. They will face the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
This marks the second time that the city of Issaquah has formally changed its name to “12saquah.” The first time was in 2015 for the Seahawks’ last Super Bowl appearance, where they also faced New England and lost 28-24.
The name change is really just a gesture, a banner for the front of City Hall. Any babies born in the city or residents getting their driver’s licenses across the next 11 days will still have documents that say “Issaquah.”
“I’m a big Seahawks fan, but that would be pushing it a little too far,” Mullet said with a chuckle.
Mullet bought his Super Bowl tickets over six weeks ago after watching the Seahawks perform a 16-point, fourth-quarter comeback against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 16 of the regular season. Seattle won 38-37 in overtime.
“I had that much faith,” Mullet said. “I was convinced that this was our year. I started to become convinced when we won that game on the last play. I knew this was our magical season and that big things would happen.”
Mullet’s confidence in the Seahawks has not wavered. He even waged a Super Bowl bet with Jake Wilson, the mayor of Somerville, Mass., who he met this week at the Annual Conference of Mayors in Washington D.C. Somerville, a small suburb of Boston, claims to be home to the invention of Marshmallow Fluff.
“That is their claim to fame, so if the Seahawks win, the mayor is sending me a giant box of Marshmallow Fluff, Mullet said. If the Seahawks lose, he is evidently addicted to the iced tea they sell at Costco (headquartered in Issaquah). I promised him a three-month supply of Costco’s iced tea.”
The Super Bowl kicks off at 3:30 p.m. PT, and the Seahawks are the betting favorite (-4.5) as of Wednesday.
After a dominant 14-3 regular season, the Seahawks won the highly competitive NFC West and clinched the top seed in the NFC. They have gone undefeated in their last nine games, including a 41-6 blowout against the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round on Jan. 17 and, most recently, Sunday’s 31-27 win against the Rams in the NFC Championship.
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